spring

About Me

First, I would like to say "Hi" to whom ever may view this.

My name is Spring Montes and I currently live in Oakland, Ca. I just recently graduated from San Jose State University with two bachelors degrees one in Anthropology and the other in Spatial Art (ceramics).

I was orginally trained as a potter but started exploring figurative sculpture and mixed media within the last three years.

I'm one of those lucky people who discovered ceramics at an early age (14). I took it all through high school and although I still stunk by the time I graduated, I think I developed a deeper understanding of the material and how it behaves.

After high school, I attended community college for three years, and while there got some experience as the ceramic lab tech. I transfered to Cal State Long Beach and attended the school for a year. This was the definative year of my education. Tony Marsh challenged my notions of why I make, and for the first time I was challenged not mearly on technical ability but on concept. It was an inspiring studio, to be surrounded by such masters, Tony, Jean Pierre Larocque, Cindy Kolodziejski, and Kim Dickey and I pushed myself harder to learn and create.

Unfortunately, I didn't go back. I got married, had my son and didn't touch clay for 6 1/2 years. I enrolled at San Francisco State and after my first semester I was able to add ceramics classes. It was difficult to try and get the creative juices flowing since they had been turned off for so long. Besides that, I really sucked. I don't care what any one says, relearning throwing is not like learning to ride a bike again. One semester was enough for me to know that SFSU was not the place for me so I took another 3 1/2 year hiatus.

Determined to come back strong and avoid past mistakes, I spent a year at another community college prior to going to San Jose State. I needed to start throwing and thinking. I was lucky enough to take classes from Larry Henderson and Susannah Isreal. It was good preperation for going back.

SJSU turned out to be a great fit (except for the 4 hr round trip commute). Monica Van Den Dool has been my teacher from the start and her influence has made all the difference. I have always believed that it's pretty easy to teach a beginner, but a real teacher shows there stuff with an advanced student. Stan Welsh has also been a great teacher. Although I didn't take his class untill my second year, he noticed my work early on and encouraged my development.

This is kinda sad but I have VERY few pictures of my past work. Everything was either lost or broken and I never got pics. I always make a joke that you'll never find someone who has been doing it this long and has literally nothing to show for it.

I don't sell my work (yet), haven't been in shows, competions, collected etc. It has always been my focus to learn as much as I could and not worry about making money or getting my name out there. Too many times I have seen people try to establish temselves as artists when they aren't very good and needed more training. I didn't want to do that. For now I am content to just create.

This is probably TMI but that's the way I roll. I'm either a locked diary or an open phone book.